I spent 8 years racing my AWD Eclipse up at Bandi for 8 years and AWD was the reason I was beating Viper GTSs with less ponies since traction is a big part of the game and I've never even seen a Focus that was even close to touching my car and the FWD cars that could beat me were far and inbetween.

You do watch Top Gear from time to time,right?
Nissan GT-R,Lambo,Audi R8s are AWD and none of them have off road racing in mind. AWD is for slick hard surfaces whether they are wet or dry. Ken Block can't Gymkhana without AWD. I love the control you have with AWD and I'm a solid driver without it but I'm quite awesome with a little help.